Guinness Special Export Stout / Antwerpen Stout | Guinness Ltd.

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Notes / Commercial Description:
This 8% abv stout has long been a secret pleasure among beer connoisseurs and indeed our Brewers, who value the mouth watering intensity of its roasted malt, smoked wood and dark chocolate notes, not to mention it's excellent and seemingly endless finish. Since 1944 we have been exclusively exporting this same special stout from Ireland into Belgium through the vibrant port of Antwerp. This is the first time we're making it available for general release in America.

The color is black. It has two fingers of a beautiful cream colored foam, creamy. Good appearance.
Stout smell, intense, strong, with malty notes, liquorice, dark malts. Dark and intense notes.
The taste is strong and intense too, with a lot of liquorice, cocoa, hazelnut, and a rhubarb touch. Even some bitter roots.
It is for sure less smooth than a regular Guinness Draught, but more interesting.
Intense, strong, full.

A: [4.00] The bottle lists the ABV (8.0%). There is some decoder ring version of a date stamp that means nothing to me. The beer is black in color and looks thick. Peaking of thick... The head is 3 fingers of bullet-proof khaki bubbles. They are dense and creamy!

M: [3.25] I expected it to be creamy and smooty - it has prickly carbonation. It is probably medium body but the carbonation makes it feel thinner.

O: [3.50] I stand by my "worcestershire sauce" take. I think that is in the aroma too. It is something that is in that flavor category. This beer is not bad it is just that flavor that is out of left field. Also the carbonation is a bit heavy handed. I would get a different stout in the future. I haven't had a lot of variety from Guinness so I wanted to try something new.

A: Pours a deep darker than cola brown with a couple fingers of very dense light brown head. The head took forever to slowly fade into a thick and lasting fuzzy collar that left a thick network of impressive lacing down the glass.
S: Ashy, smoky, nose with notes of tobacco smoke, savory barbeque smoke, chicory, and slight sulfur.
T: More of a roasted and toasted grain quality to the flavor than it is pure smoke like the nose. Still, there is a subtle smoky undertone throughout the flavor. Roasted malt flavors up front followed by sweet and sticky flavors of molasses and slight caramel. Savory, meaty, smoke and slightly acrid flavors round out the finish, and I get a hint of chocolate and chicory lingering in the aftertaste. Mild spice.
M: Dense, softy, and creamy carbonation that really froths up on my palate. Full body, chewy and thick mouthfeel, moderate bitterness.
O: The aftertaste was like a lighter version of the taste that lingers after smoking a cigarette. Thick, chewy, and drinkable, but probably not something I’ll revisit.

Color is dark brown with a distinctly red cast. Plenty of foam in the big Duvel tulip. There's not much aroma when cold but a fruity orange nose follows each sip. It gets more sugary and dark caramel tasting as it warms. Silky mouthfeel but oddly water body, with carbonation disappearing on the tongue.

Flavors are interesting with charred grain, pineapple, caramel, and a touch of peaty whisky. Quite sweet but also tangy and right in the Foreign Stout arena, from my experience. Plenty sippable, and certainly an oddball brew but glad to have tasted it. From the mixed Guinness 12 pack purchased at a supermarket in Washington state.

11.2oz bottle purchased somewhere in the greater Spokane area, most likely either Huckleberry's or one of the Total Wines. Can't remember what I paid for it. No obvious freshness date, just some sort of code on the rear label: L619OGF0003.

Poured into an Iron Goat snifter, this was lovely to look at. So dark brown as to be virtually black, with a big, creamy tan head that took it's time dropping and left lots of lace on the sides of the glass.

Initially the nose was of toasted dark malts, like one would expect from an Irish dry stout. As it warmed, an odd, sugary sweet aroma took over, eventually dominating the aroma entirely.

The flavor was an odd mix of traditional, dry stout flavors such as dark roasted, restrained coffeeish bitterness and a strange, somewhat off putting burnt sugary thing that reminded me of burnt marshmallows and candy. These did not meld together all that well. There's also a little bit of alcoholic heat. Finish is bitter, dry and slightly reminiscent of elderly noughat.

Many years ago I really would have loved a chance to try the Belgian Guinness. Haven't been a Guinness fanboy for a long time now, and this isn't doing much to bring me back. It's an overly sweet booze bomb that tastes like artificial sweet flavors were added with a heavy hand. It's not awful, but it's definitely not my thing.

Nice appearance, with a jet black body and a light tan head, which has good retention an deposits globs of lacing on the glass. Dry roasted grain aroma mixing in with cocoa. The taste is fine, but by no means spectacular. Kinda reminds me of a slightly amped up Irish dry stout. Prominent oak and stale coffee flavours, mixed in with cocoa powder. Some hints of fruit and sugar, but overall very dry. Medium mouthfeel and carbonation. Alcohol isn't even perceptible.

This didn't really impress me that much. While it is a decent beer its not in the same class as other foreign/export stouts, and it didn't have the richness of flavour I look for.